


Space Drift

by lachatblanche



Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Space, Casual Relationships - Freeform, M/M, Space Stations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:28:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21823693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lachatblanche/pseuds/lachatblanche
Summary: The former-asteroid-now-space-station Graymalkin is home to its founder, Charles Xavier, his sister Raven, his chief-of-security Moira MacTaggart, and a host of individuals who may or may not be on the wrong side of the law.It also, on occasion, plays host to Charles's space-wandering lovers, who also may or may not be on the wrong side of the law.
Relationships: Erik Lehnsherr/Charles Xavier, Logan (X-Men)/Charles Xavier
Comments: 15
Kudos: 47
Collections: Secret Mutant Madness 2019





	Space Drift

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Gerec](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gerec/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [Gerec](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gerec/pseuds/Gerec) in the [secret_mutant_madness_2019](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/secret_mutant_madness_2019) collection. 



> **Prompt:**
> 
> Space au, powered or not!!!
> 
> Erik is a notorious smuggler with a misfit crew that includes besties Emma and Azazel. Logan is the best bounty hunter in the star system who always gets his target, and who just happens to go on jobs with his just-as-deadly pre-teen daughter Laura. Each of them must stop and refuel every cycle at the not-all-that-legal outpost/space station/secret base run by one Charles Xavier, to resupply/get jobs/hide from the space police. 
> 
> Separately, they each have a long history with Charles AND are both currently involved in an open 'relationship' of sorts with him, because Charles isn't interested in committing to either of them. (C'mon they're both dumbasses and a hell of a lot of trouble to boot)
> 
> (Would love to see Moira as the station's security chief and Raven as Charles' super competent and scary spy. Also, give my man Charles some super sleek cybernetic limbs please!!! And feel free to make this a Star Wars au, a Star Trek au, a Mass Effect au or just any regular ol' space adventure. Please feel free to add more characters; I just listed the ones I'd love to see in the fic :D)

Charles sat at his chrome desk, his brow furrowed, as he carefully inputted a series of figures into his account ledger. Most people now used a computational device to deal with administrative details, but Charles enjoyed the experience of using paper. It was a niche and expensive commodity these days, what with the prevalence of tech and with trees only being found on five of the fifty-nine known planets, but Charles had always enjoyed his luxuries and, since he was more than able to afford them, he saw no reason to give up on his more expensive tastes.

The flash of his comm-console made Charles look up from his work and he sighed as he realised what it meant. Setting his pen (a genuine biro, no soulless mechanical stylus for him) down, he took a moment to flex the fingers of his cybernetic arm before reaching out and pressing a button on the console.

‘Yes, Moira?’ he asked, scratching tiredly at his forehead.

‘Charles.’ Moira’s rich voice floated out through the ion-cleansed air of Charles’s private study. ‘We’ve had a new arrival on base.’

‘That’s hardly news,’ Charles said dryly. Graymalkin had once been nothing but a barren asteroid on the edge of space which had been caught in the gravitational pull of a dwarf star, but Charles had come upon it nearly a decade ago with nothing but his wits and a vision and since then it had become a populous, bustling centre of trade. True, its clientele was mostly of the sort whose names wouldn’t be unfamiliar to the Galactic Law Corps, but Charles had always prided himself on being an open-minded sort of person, and he’d found that it was hard not to harbour some sort of fondness for the various rogues and rascals that somehow wound up in Graymalkin’s port.

It also helped that he was well aware that not one of the rough-edged criminals that he had allowed onto his base had a patch on some of the heartless galactic tycoons and planetary magnates that he had encountered in his time on Earth II; his conscience, therefore, was wholly clear.

‘Perhaps not,’ Moira agreed, her voice sounding clearly through the comm-console. ‘But I’ve got my eye on some pretty suspicious cargo that you might want to take a look at soonish.’ She paused. ‘Meaning _now_.’

It wasn’t a suggestion.

Charles looked down ruefully at his half-done accounts and let out a sigh. They would have to keep, it seemed. It wouldn’t do to keep Moira waiting, after all – aside from the fact that she was his head of security, she also got very grumpy when she ran out of patience. 

‘I’ll be there in a few,’ he said resignedly and pressed the button of his comm-console, ending the call. He sat in his chair for a few moments, wishing he had taken that holiday to Luna IV like Raven had suggested a few sols ago, and then slowly rose to his feet. His cybernetic leg straightened in one fluid movement, reacting instantly to his thoughts. His left leg, however, was a bit more sluggish and Charles grunted at the click his knee made when he unbent it. He could well sympathise with those people who chose to forego all their natural limbs and exchange them for cybernetic ones – you didn’t have to deal with your muscles growing stiff and sore in a mechanical leg, after all.

His thoughts were still somewhat disgruntled as he exited the central corridor and stepped out into the hangar. Moira was waiting for him by the automatic doors, the grey uniform of the base security chief fitting her like a glove. As well it should, Charles thought wryly; she was the first and only security chief that he’d had, and that was only because she had one day barged into his office (then simply his private study and drinks repository) and demanded that she be made his head of security and that he pay her handsomely to do so. Since she had only that day saved Charles from an assassin sent from his odious stepfather and then again on that same day stepped in to stop him from being wrongfully arrested by the Galactic Law Corps, he had hired her on the spot, given her the freedom to choose her own office, uniform and salary, and had promptly adopted her as his best friend.

She was watching him now with a slight smirk that allowed him to unconsciously relax; Moira wouldn’t be in such a good mood if they were facing something dangerous. Come to think of it, she wouldn’t have called _him_ if they were facing something dangerous.

‘Boss,’ she addressed him with a twinkle in her eye. ‘Good to see you out of the office at last.’

‘You said something about suspicious cargo?’ Charles said briskly, unwilling to be drawn on his workaholic tendencies.

Moira’s lips twitched. ‘Right that way …’ she murmured, and gestured behind her to where a stack of crates was piled up. 

Charles glanced at her and then sighed and made his way over to the crates. ‘So, what’s so suspicious about—’

A sudden snarl sounded behind him and then the next thing he knew he was on his back, blinking up at a small, wild-looking girl with long brown hair. Charles’s look of surprise immediately changed to delight.

‘Laura!’ He pushed himself up, resting his weight on his mechanical arm so that Laura slipped down into his lap and he beamed at her. ‘When did you get here?’

‘Ten minutes ago,’ Moira said, still smirking. ‘And before you ask, Logan’s gone to register with Alex, since – big surprise – the arrival wasn’t scheduled.’ She nodded towards Laura, who was studying Charles’s face very intently and poking curiously at his stubbled chin. ‘This one, though, couldn’t wait to see you.’

Charles couldn’t resist smiling at that and he leant forward and pressed a kiss to Laura’s forehead. ‘I feel very much the same,’ he said warmly. He reached out to run his adamantium-plated fingers through Laura’s hair. ‘I’ve missed you very much.’

Laura smiled, slow and shy in a way she never otherwise was. 

‘I missed you too, Chuck,’ came a familiar voice, and Charles glanced up with a smile to see Logan standing there, leaning against a crate and watching him with Laura.

‘Logan.’ Charles’s voice was soft and was weighted with fondness. ‘It’s good to see you.’

They stared at each other for a long moment. The air thickened.

Moira coughed. ‘I’ll just leave you three alone,’ she murmured, backing away.

‘Two,’ Logan corrected her, halting her retreat. He glanced down at Laura, who was still on Charles’s lap. ‘Beat it, kid, I need some alone time with Chuck here.’

Laura glared at him. When Logan just glared back, unrelenting, she scowled, snapped something angry at him in an alien tongue, and then slowly and with great dignity raised herself off Charles. ‘I’ll come later,’ she said firmly, looking down at Charles with serious eyes. Then she took off with Moira, chattering eagerly to her as the two of them made their way back through the automatic doors and out of the hangar.

Charles watched them and then turned back to Logan, who hadn’t looked away from him. He smiled and held out his hands. ‘Help me up?’ he asked hopefully.

He didn’t need to ask twice. With one tug he was up on his feet and in the circle of Logan’s arms, kissing him. Charles sighed and, closing his eyes, relaxed for what felt like the first time in weeks.

‘So,’ Logan said gruffly when they’d finally separated. ‘Did you miss me?’

‘Unbearably,’ Charles said with a grin. ‘I almost considered calling.’ He cocked his head and looked at Logan inquisitively. ‘What brings you out this way anyway? From what you’d said before I didn’t expect you back in this quadrant for another three months at least.’

‘Last minute bounty from Hoth,’ Logan answered. He was still holding Charles close. ‘Guy who’s wanted for robbing some rich hotshot planet-side. Not the job I’d planned on taking but it pays good and brings me out this way, so …’ he trailed off, running his eyes up and down Charles’s form. ‘You’re getting skinny, Chuck. You haven’t been eating.’  
Charles shook his head, smiling. ‘You sound like Moira,’ he said with feigned reproach. ‘And my sister. They keep trying to feed me up.’

‘They’re trying to look after you,’ Logan said seriously. He then paused, glancing downwards, as if self-conscious. ‘ _I’m_ trying to look after you.’

Charles blinked, caught off-guard by the change in tone, and then eyed him suspiciously as a thought entered his head. ‘You’re didn’t come back here to ask me to marry you again, did you?’ he asked warily, his brow creased. ‘Because we’ve been over this, Logan, I’m not going to marry you.’

A flush rose to Logan’s cheeks. ‘Heck, Chuck,’ he growled, scratching almost embarrassedly at his face. ‘I asked you that _once_ —’

‘And now you know better than to ask me it again,’ Charles said primly. He softened when he saw the expression on Logan’s face. ‘Don’t worry,’ he said kindly, reaching out to pat Logan’s cheek. ‘I still adore you.’ His eyes then glinted wickedly and his touch turned into a more pointed caress. ‘Allow me to show you how much?’

Logan let out a huff of laughter. ‘I’m not going to say no to that,’ he said wryly, and followed Charles away out of the hangar.

*****

Logan stayed on Westchester for two weeks. He used the time well, gathering information on his target, loading up on supplies and refuelling his ship, a designation X-23 spacecraft and a hulking, weathered old beast that had been affectionately named _The Wolverine_. Like most ships, it in time had come to resemble its owner: scruffy and fearsome on the outside but warm and comfortable on the inside. Charles was very fond of it, and it was second only to his own beloved _Cerebro_ in his opinion, despite the number of A-class luxury crafts that he had travelled on in his time.

Charles and Logan were together for nearly the entirety of _The Wolverine_ ’s stay, and he was very sorry when the time inevitably came for Logan and Laura to leave. He hadn’t realised how much he had missed them both until he had seen them again, and seeing them leave was always a wrench. 

‘Bye bye, my darling,’ he murmured into Laura’s hair as she hugged him tightly around the waist. ‘Take care of yourself, and your father, won’t you?’

Laura nodded into his stomach, still clinging tightly to him. ‘I wish you were coming too,’ she said quietly and Charles felt his heart clench. 

‘Maybe next time, yes?’ he said, peeling away from her and forcing a smile.

Laura just stared at him. Then she turned and went to hug Moira, who hugged her back just as tightly.

‘Careful, Chuck,’ Logan muttered as he sidled up next to Charles. ‘She’s got a nose for liars, that one.’

Charles sighed. ‘Take care of yourself, Logan,’ he said, leaning his head on Logan’s shoulder. ‘And take care of Laura. She seems to be entering a bit of a stubborn phase.’

Logan let out a snort. ‘You make it sound like she wasn’t stubborn already,’ he drawled. Then he turned and kissed Charles firmly on the lips. ‘I’ll see you around, Chuck,’ he said, his lips quirking upwards. He then turned and whistled to Laura, who obediently joined his side and, after one last wave, they both disappeared into _The Wolverine_. Moments later, the hangar doors opened and then _The Wolverine_ was off, there one moment and the next lost to dark, distant space.

Charles stood in silence, looking after the ship with something like longing.

‘They’ll be back,’ Moira said encouragingly, jostling him with her shoulder. ‘You know Logan can’t stay away from you for too long.’

Charles laughed. ‘You make me sound like an addiction,’ he said reproachfully.

Moira grinned. ‘Well, considering the number of people I’ve seen moon over you …’ she said meaningfully.

Charles laughed and gave her a shove. ‘Come on,’ he said, unable to hide smile. ‘Work awaits.’ He then sighed. ‘And I _still_ haven’t finished those damn accounts …’

*****

Erik’s visit, when it came, was expected. Erik was, after all, very meticulous, whether in logging a flight plan or registering a fuel stop or even in lovemaking.

‘Well,’ Charles said, panting as he tried to recover his breath an hour after welcoming Erik and his crew into the station’s hangar. ‘That’s new.’

He could feel Erik’s smile against his shoulder. ‘Just something I picked up on Gwent,’ he said, mouthing at the join between skin and admantium plate.

Charles blinked. ‘Gwent?’ he repeated, bemused. ‘What in sol were you doing in Gwent of all places?’

Erik shrugged, pulling back so that he was lying flat on the bed. ‘Just picking something up,’ he said casually, folding his arms under his head and closing his eyes.

Charles cocked an eyebrow. ‘I assume you mean something aside from moves to use in the bedroom?’ he said with a smirk.

Erik grinned. ‘I apologise. I was just picking up a _number_ of things in Gwent.’

Charles snorted but his eyes flickered, his mind racing. ‘Gwent,’ he said again, thoughtful. ‘Let me see … I don’t suppose it was a load of Polemian crystal that you were picking up?’

Erik opened one eye and peered at Charles. ‘What makes you say that?’ he asked carefully.

Charles gave him a wry smile. ‘Just one of the perks of running a private business outpost in the middle of nowhere,’ he said dryly. He then glanced down at Erik and sighed. ‘I suppose it’s Essex that you’re running for?’

Erik stiffened and immediately sat up. ‘How did you know that?’ he demanded sharply.

Charles rolled his eyes at Erik’s tone. ‘Oh, do lie back down, I’m not about to hijack your sale,’ he said with a huff. ‘Honestly,’ he muttered when Erik continued to eye him suspiciously. ‘You’re so paranoid. All it takes is a little effort to figure things out. Last I heard, Angel Salvadore was trying to shift a cargo-load of stolen Polemian crystal fast, and I know she has a business-holding on Gwent. Essex, meanwhile, has been searching for a catalyst to move his gene-splicing experiments forward after hitting a standstill a few months ago, and everyone knows that Polemian crystal has excellent catalytic properties when broken down and heated.’

‘Yes,’ Erik drawled. ‘Everyone.’

Charles shrugged. ‘I assume that Essex hired you to pick up the load at Gwent and take it to him at Krakoa, which is only a handful of lightyears away from here. Am I wrong?’

‘No.’ Erik sighed, but there was a small, appreciative smile on his face. ‘No, you’re not.’

‘I didn’t think so,’ Charles said, satisfied. ‘I so rarely am.’

Erik rolled his eyes. ‘Your modesty is just one of the many things that I’ve missed about you,’ he drawled.

Charles grinned. ‘It’s one of my better qualities,’ he said cheerfully. He leant back on his pillow, humming contentedly, before glancing over at Erik. ‘Not to tread on any toes, darling, but as we’re on the subject – this deal with Essex? I think it’s best you end it, sharpish.’

Erik frowned. ‘What? Why? What do you know?’

‘Well he’s not a very pleasant man,’ Charles said, screwing up his nose even as his eyes flickered shut, his cheek grazing the softness of his pillow. ‘And I’ve been hearing some very alarming reports about those experiments of his. My friend Jean was just telling me of how her agency have had their eye on Essex for a while … in fact, they’re planning on moving in on him _very_ soon …’

Erik sat up, alert. ‘ _How_ soon?’ he demanded sharply.

Charles blinked up at him and shrugged. ‘Two sols, give or take,’ he said lightly.

Erik’s mouth twisted. ‘Which is when I would have been there,’ he said grimly. He shook his head. ‘Damn.’

Charles opened an eye. ‘Would have been?’ he murmured.

Erik raised an eyebrow. ‘Well I’m not exactly going there now, am I.’ He smiled wryly. ‘Especially when you say that he’s not very pleasant. Believe it or not, Charles, I set a lot of store in your opinions.’

‘How nice.’ Charles yawned, halfway to sleep. ‘If that’s really the case then remind me to introduce you to my friend Gambit tomorrow. Lovely man, you’ll like him.’

Erik snorted under his breath even as he rearranged himself beside Charles in the bed. ‘I suppose he’s handsome,’ he said wryly, looking pointedly at Charles.

Charles smiled, his eyes closed. ‘Oh yes,’ he breathed, a fond smile on his face. ‘Very handsome. Funny too, and charming. And currently a collector of Polemian crystal, funnily enough.’

‘Is he now?’ Erik sounded thoughtful as he settled back into his pillows. ‘Isn’t that interesting.’

‘Of course it is,’ Charles said, turning off the lights. ‘I said it.’

*****

Although Erik was the Captain of the _Magneto_ , the person who could be said to really run the ship was his First Officer and Second in Command, Emma Frost. Blonde, savage and stylish, she was one of Charles’s closest friends, something that Erik always bemoaned when he was reminded of it.

Emma wasn’t anyone’s immediate idea of what a smuggler should be; for a start, she – like Charles – came from a family of fabulous wealth and could trace her lineage all the way back into the dusty annals of Earth I. For another, she – unlike Charles – continued to act like it, and was known to have refused eye-wateringly lucrative jobs if there was any chance of her getting one iota of boglarite slime on her pristine white spacesuit.

That didn’t mean that she was afraid of getting her hands dirty.

‘Ah, but she is vicious, that one,’ Azazel was telling Charles, shaking his head with what ought to have been disapproval but was in fact much closer to affection. Azazel was Erik and Emma’s crewmate and – though neither of them would admit it – their closest friend. Like all natives of the planet Garza he was red-skinned and sharp-toothed, and like all members of _Magneto_ ’s crew, he was very handy in a fight. ‘It is not good to be stuck alone on a ship with her for so long. Between her and Erik—’ he shrugged. ‘I am lucky to be alive.’ 

Charles suppressed a laugh. ‘You know you are very welcome to stay behind here when they leave,’ he said, laying an inviting hand on Azazel’s arm.

Azazel gave him an amused glance and then reached down and gently removed Charles’s cool metallic fingers from his arm. ‘Ah, but then your Erik would have my head,’ he murmured regretfully, even as his eyes twinkled. ‘And you know well that my heart lies with your beautiful blue sister.’

Charles laughed. ‘It’s Raven you have to convince of that, not me,’ he said, pulling back and reaching for his glass of Ionian wine. ‘Though that doesn’t seem to be going too well for you, from what I hear.’

Azazel waved his words away. ‘She will come around,’ he said confidently. ‘She likes me.’

‘Keep telling yourself that,’ Emma snorted as she came in and sat herself down on the sofa next to Charles, swiping his glass of wine as she did so and drinking it down. ‘How is Raven anyway?’

‘In excellent health,’ Charles said with a smile, reaching over and neatly slipping the stolen glass out from Emma’s grasp. He topped it up with more wine and then handed it back to her. ‘Looking after our interests on Perth.’

Azazel looked at him with interest, while Emma sipped from the refilled glass, eyeing him over the rim. ‘You intrigue me, Xavier,’ she murmured. ‘Care to elaborate?’

Charles grimaced. ‘Moira heard reports that an off-world thug named Creed was planning on expanding his operation,’ he said grimly, taking the glass back from Emma and taking a long drink from it. ‘An aggressive expansion, by the sounds of things.’ He paused, swilling the wine around in the glass before continuing. ‘I thought it … _prudent_ to send Raven in to clarify the situation for Mr Creed.’

Emma raised an eyebrow. ‘Bad luck for Mr Creed,’ she murmured.

Charles’s smile was thin. ‘Indeed,’ he said, and sipped his wine.

Azazel was watching them closely. ‘Erik likes to think that despite your friendship you and Emma are very different,’ he observed, looking thoughtful. ‘I shall not tell him how wrong he is.’

Charles gave him a cool look. He had founded the Graymalkin outpost almost singlehandedly and had kept it safe and secure through the years in what was a rough and little-governed area of space and, in time, had himself become the governing power over that quadrant, albeit unofficially. He had not achieved this by being soft and naive, no matter what Erik had deluded himself into believing.

Which, Charles thought with regret a little later, as he lay in bed beside a sleeping Erik, was why he and Erik would never work on a permanent basis. Both enjoyed being masters of their own worlds a bit too much. Neither would be willing to lose control of their respective domains and, further, Erik would never truly understand the depth of Charles’s determination to see Graymalkin succeed, or realise that Charles was more than capable of playing a firm hand when needed.

It was a good thing that he was more than happy with things remaining the way they were, Charles thought decisively as he turned on his side and pulled the covers close. He adored Erik, he really did, but he wasn’t the be-all and end-all of Charles’s affections.

There was more than enough of himself to go around, after all, and Charles was all too willing to share.

*****

Raven touched down on Graymalkin two weeks after Erik and the crew of the _Magneto_ had left. Charles was waiting to meet her.

‘Raven,’ he said, smiling up at her and holding out his hand for her as she descended from the ramp of the _Mystique_ , her personal stealth ship that, aside from Charles himself, was the thing she loved most in the world. ‘Welcome home.’

‘Charles.’ Raven smiled at him as she took his hand, and he marvelled as he always did at how fine the sensors were on his cybernetic arm that they allowed him to feel even the smooth ridges of the scales on Raven’s palms. ‘I see the place hasn’t crumbled without me here.’

Charles laughed, squeezing her hand. ‘Only because Moira was here to ensure that it didn’t,’ he assured her, his eyes twinkling. ‘Otherwise, I’d have been lost.’

Raven laughed at that, her teeth very white against the gorgeous blue of her skin. She and Charles were not related by blood, of course, but the fact that they were creatures from very different planets with very different appearances didn’t make them any less brother and sister.

‘I hear Erik made a visit since I was last here,’ Raven mentioned later over tea, when she had settled back in and had finished reporting back to Charles on the Creed affair.

‘You heard right,’ Charles answered calmly, primly holding his cup between his fingers and pointedly avoiding her eyes.

‘And I heard Logan stopped by before that.’

‘It’s good to know that the faith I put in you as my top spy isn’t misplaced,’ Charles said wryly. ‘Get to the point, please, I get enough smirking from Moira and Emma when she’s around, I can do without it from my own baby sister.’

Raven’s smirk widened. ‘There’s no _point_ as such,’ she said innocently. ‘I just think it’s funny how your flings have been whittled down to just two. Usually I can’t move about the place without falling over one of your flames.’

Charles raised an eyebrow. ‘Again – your point?’

Raven rolled her eyes. ‘I’m just saying,’ she said pointedly. ‘You seem to be sticking to just Erik and Logan these days.’ 

‘Not _just_ ,’ Charles protested lightly. He was a man of varied tastes, after all. ‘But – yes, I suppose. Mostly those two.’

Raven eyed him over the rim of her teacup, her strong blue fingers light against the delicate china. ‘Sounds almost serious,’ she said evenly.

Charles gave her a look. ‘Don’t start,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘Moira’s insufferable enough about all this without you joining in.’

Raven laughed. ‘Curmudgeon,’ she said fondly. ‘Fine, I’ll lay off.’ She sank into silence for a few minutes, surveying her brother thoughtfully. ‘You ever think of settling down?’ she asked abruptly.

Charles sighed. ‘Raven—’ he began, but Raven interrupted him. 

‘I met someone.’ 

Charles looked at her in surprise. ‘You have? When?’

‘When I was on Perth dealing with Creed,’ Raven said, looking down at her feet. ‘Her name’s Irene.’

‘Oh.’ Charles was silent for a few minutes. While Raven had never been as free with her affections as he had, she had never shown any interest in settling down before. He didn’t quite know how to react. ‘Well – if you’re happy then I am too,’ he said honestly.

Raven looked up then and smiled at him, bright and true. ‘Thanks,’ she said.

There was a comfortable pause.

‘Poor Azazel’s going to be devastated,’ Charles murmured, sipping from his teacup.

Raven just laughed. ‘Not my problem,’ she said cheerily, and clinked her cup against Charles’s.

*****

While Charles enjoyed a bit of excitement every now and then, he was at heart someone who enjoyed an existence of perfect harmony. Part of that harmony came from the fact that Logan and Erik had never met and, with the help of good planning, compartmentalisation and the vast expanse of the universe, were never likely to meet.

‘Though really,’ Raven said wryly over a glass of saturnian whisky, ‘If anyone had the ability to schedule their love life it would be you, Charles. Don’t think I’ve forgotten the size of your little black book.’

Of course, it was much harder to maintain perfect scheduling when one side of the arrangement (Logan, naturally) paid very little attention to pesky things like logging flight routes and registering ship details and calling ahead to see if Charles was busy or not.

‘Um,’ Charles said as Logan and Erik glowered at each other from either side of his desk while Raven, Emma and Azazel looked on in fascination. Laura had been hastily packed off with Moira (who, it must be said, was doing a shameful job as a security officer, having been the one to shove both Erik and Logan into Charles’s office in the first place); she had glared venomously at Erik in a very unchildlike way that had made Charles distinctly nervous. ‘Well. This is awkward.’

Erik and Logan stared back at him, their gazes stony.

Unfortunately, their momentary muteness had not lasted long and Charles soon found himself in the middle of a hailstorm of snarls and insults that made him very glad that he had sent Laura far, far away. 

Things had continued in that way for a long while, until at last Charles, whose head was beginning to throb with irritation, had stood up, summarily thrown Emma, Raven and Azazel out of his office and then turned to Erik and Logan.

‘Right,’ he snapped, glaring at the two of them. ‘This childish possessiveness has gone on for long enough. Either the two of you start acting like grown men and _let this go_ , or I make the decision for you and let the two of _you_ go instead.’

Neither Erik nor Logan looked very happy about either option.

‘What?’ Charles snapped, when both of them continued to look gloomy.

‘I just didn’t realise that your standards were so low, Charles,’ Erik said stiffly, glaring icily at Logan. 

‘Tell me about it,’ Logan growled, looking at Erik with dislike.

‘Oh, for heaven’s sakes,’ Charles ran a hand over his face in irritation. ‘It’s not like you both didn’t know that this wasn’t exclusive.’

‘Yeah,’ Logan said grimly. ‘But there’s a difference between knowing it and _seeing_ it, bub.’

‘Quite,’ Erik said thinly. ‘Though I can’t help also wondering why you decided to take up with an Earth 1 caveman of all people, Charles.’   
Logan’s eyes narrowed.

Charles sighed as the bickering started anew and pinched the bridge of his nose. ‘Okay, enough!’ he snapped. He took a deep breath as both Logan and Erik turned to look at him. ‘Right. Here’s the way I see things. Either I stop sleeping with the _both_ of you, or …’

Charles offered his alternative. Both Logan and Erik frowned and then turned slow, considering expressions on each other.

‘Huh,’ Logan said.

‘I suppose that could work,’ Erik offered.

*****

The soft _bleep_ of his comms unit roused Charles from his slumber. He blinked and then carefully removed the arm that was slung around his waist and then leaned over the body that was next to him and grabbed hold of his comm-console.

‘Yeah?’ he muttered, his voice hoarse, his finger accidently pressing on the vid button instead of just audio. He blinked as a holographic image of Raven popped up in front of him, flanked by Emma, Moira and Azazel.

There was a moment’s silence as he stared at them and they stared back.

Then, ‘Ha!’ Azazel crowed in triumph, his grin devilish in its delight. ‘I knew it! You all owe me fifty credits.’

Moira rolled her eyes while Raven groaned, reaching out to shove Azazel in the shoulder. 

Emma just smirked from her corner. ‘As if any of us was foolish enough to take your bet,’ she purred, her teeth glinting as her eyes raked approvingly over the scene in front of her. ‘Nice one, sugar, I knew you had it in you.’

‘Had _what_ precisely,’ Raven drawled and Charles opened his mouth to tell his sister to do something very rude indeed, when a rustle from his side distracted him.

‘Leave it, Chuck.’ Logan’s gravelly voice, thick with sleep as it was, sent a pleasurable shiver down Charles’s spine. ‘Come back to bed.’

A hand plucked Charles’s comm-console from his fingers before he could respond and then casually flung it at the furthest wall, sending the hologram blinking away in a haze of sparks. ‘What he said,’ Erik murmured, snaking his hand around Charles’s waist and gently pulling him towards the bed.

Charles turned and looked down at the two men on either side of him. They looked back at him from the pile of blankets, sleepy-eyed, welcoming and very, very attractive.

Charles smiled.

‘One of my better ideas,’ he said to himself with satisfaction and then laughed and allowed himself to be pulled back down to bed.


End file.
